MUNCH Festival, Peckham

After such an awesome weekend at Feast festival, I hit up the twittersphere to find out what was the next foodie gathering in London. Secretly hoping for somewhere South (so it is easier to get to due to loads of weekend rail disruptions) I was tweeted by Sweet Tooth, asking me to come and try their brownies at MUNCH, a festival by Pexmas, in Peckham.

One of the first sellers I came across was Sophie from Sweet Food. Her cupcakes looked absolutely incredible, I couldn't help but take photos of the amazing colours, and the flavours were things like strawberry milkshake or rhubarb and custard. Amazing.

They make cakes for every occasion, and also to gluten and dairy free cakes. What's more they look spectacular.

From the top; Madagascan vanilla pod cupcakes, rhubarb and custard cupcakes, strawberry milkshake cupcakes.

Before we indulged in sweet treats, it was lunch time and I had been waiting a while to try out Fleish Mob. I spend a lot of time in Austria so love Austrian food, which made me all the more keen to try out the amazing schnitzel sandwiches on offer at MUNCH.

The schnitzel was so thin that it cooked quickly so was prepared to order. Served on rye sourdough with salad and home made chutney, absolutely divine.

My boyfriend decided to try something a bit different, and a gourmet haggis toastie definitely caught his attention. The girls at Deeney's were lovely, and definitely very Scottish - they even had deep fried Mars bars!

He went for the haggis toastie, with cheddar, caramelised onion, rocket and mustard and it was amazing... Not quite sure what we expected but it certainly wasn't anything like what he ended up receiving! I've never enjoyed haggis so much (from the pathetic bite I was 'allowed' to have...)

Next it was time for me to head to the Brownie Bar, by Sweet Tooth, where I was in store for some amazing cocktail flavoured brownies. Maria is a professional baker, and has her own kitchen where she cooks for cafes, restaurants, private clients and functions. She also bakes for her Brownie Bar, which was where she invited me on Sunday!

The brownies were awesome. They were so full of flavour, but there was definitely some dispute between me and my friends over which were the best. My favourites were the salted caramel (because I am always a sucker for it) and the mojito because the flavour and the balance between the mint and sugar was amazing. My boyfriend liked the peanut butter ones the best, and my housemate loved the pineapple chunks in the pina colada flavour.

They were very sweet so the small cubes were the perfect size. I will definitely be keeping up to date with where the Brownie Bar by Sweet Tooth will be in the coming months!

My other awesome MUNCH favourites were an Italian pasta, tortelloni and ravioli stand (I bought artichoke ravioli, and walnut and blue cheese... Dreamy.)

I also bought a smoked garlic which gives the most amazing flavours! I cooked an oozy mushroom and parsley risotto with it and the taste was fantastic.

Overall, MUNCH is a less-known food festival, but it was a hugely enjoyable day with lots of new vendors for me to try. 

Pexmas MUNCH festival

I had a super successful weekend last weekend at Feast Festival in Brick Lane. It's already Friday again, and I have been asked to head to MUNCH food festival by Pexmas out in Peckham.

I have been invited to go and taste some cocktail brownies from Sweet Tooth, so look for a new post after the weekend!

Head down if you get the chance!

Feast Festival

Today has been hot in London. Really hot.

So in order to enjoy the sunshine and experience some great food, I headed down to Feast Festival at Brick Lane Yard in East London.

There are a lot of cool pop-ups around at the moment that I don't always get to go to, especially if I am working away, so this was a great chance for me to get to try some out. There were loads of stalls from different companies, and the food ranged from burgers to rum-marinated tuna, and from coconut water to Pimms jelly.

My boyfriend is a macaroni cheese fiend, and I had been trying to get us to try out When Mac Met Cheese. We hadn't had the chance, so we headed over to their stall first for a 'Carlos the King', 4 types of cheese with jalapenos. It was as good as I could have hoped it would be!!

After a couple of summer cocktails sitting outside in the sun on deck chairs, in an area covered with artificial grass, we decided it might be time for a little snack. There was a huge queue for a tiny stall with two Asian women working at it. The stall was called Bao, and this is what I bought.

It was steamed buns (that were a bit like a really light, soft dumpling) with slow braised pork belly, caramelised peanut shavings, and home pickles. It was pretty stunning I have to admit. The pork was in a sauce almost like a really tasty gravy. 

Then we had more of a wander round to have a look at options for a little later. There were some incredible stalls, and some of them are below;

Oysters and crab rolls from the Bonnie Gull

Flatbreads from Moro

Amazing flavoured meringues from the Meringue Girls

Amazing pulled pork and 'dippy bread' from The Pig and Butcher

There were so many vendors there that you couldn't possibly try all of them. You would definitely have to arrive there hungry and ready to eat. We were so lucky with the weather, so we just sunbathed, drank a few cocktails and chatted for most of the day.

I would definitely recommend Feast Festival, but unfortunately it isn't back in London for at least a few months. I am still dreaming about some of the food!!

Oblix at The Shard

It isn't often I get the opportunity to eat in a high-end restaurant, so when I do it is always a treat. This time was no exception. One dish I tried has quite possibly changed my life.

This week, it was mine and my boyfriend's 4 year anniversary, so he surprised me by taking me to the newly-opened Oblix, on the 32nd floor of The Shard.

It was an amazing experience!

When you arrive on the 32nd floor, you are guided down a passageway to the restaurant, where you walk through the kitchens and food prep areas to get to the main seating area. Everything looked amazing.

We sat at our table (definitely easier to get a table of 2 because you can sit closer to the window) and ordered our wine from the vastly extensive menu.

The menu isn't available online because they change it often, and as it has only been open for 6 weeks, they are still refining and amending the menu constantly. With a little help from our waiter, we ordered what we normally would - a starter and main each, and then a couple of sides to share.

For starter I had steak tartare, which I definitely was so excited for, I forgot to take a photo. The portion size was vast, and the steak was sat on a bed of giant sweet tomatoes. My boyfriend chose the Borough bowl, which is a combination of fresh ingredients from Borough market, just around the corner. That, too, was vast.

Then for main...

We are both such carnivores and the meat selection was absolutely fantastic. He had lamb chops (top) with roasted garlic and prunes. I had duck with mango salsa. Both exceptional.

For sides, we shared a broccoli with chilli, and the second side order was the absolute game-changer.

It was sweet corn, encased in a sauce. The consistency meant it was gloopy enough to dollop onto our plates. The sauce was made of blended sweet corn, butter, truffle oil, and a few secret ingredients. Apparently the sweet corn is blended so fast that the motor starts to smoke, and then they add in the oil and butter. They then mix the unblended sweet corn in, and top with shaved truffle and sprinkled with thyme.

It was, I have to say, the best side dish I have ever had in my life.

After dinner we headed into the bar on the other side, where there was a swing band playing. The atmosphere was great, and watching the sun set with a large glass of red wine and a belly full of amazing food was an amazing way to end the day.

Definitely somewhere I will be returning to. I need to experience that sweet corn and truffle again!